Erikhas the Winter Smith
Erikhas is the Master of the renegade Frost Wraiths and one of the most dangerous champions in the Warp. With his warband behind him he has fought with (and against) the despoiler, conquered Craftworlds, and even survived combat against the Daemon Primarch Angron. History What ever knowledge there is about his early life and where he came from was destroyed when the Abyss Gazers destroyed all evidence of their connection to the Frost Wraiths. Leader of the attempted coup by the Afflicted marines to try and take over the chapter Erikhas led the survivors into the Eye of Terror to avoid destruction. While there he came into the mysterious warp entity Heims and made him the patron of the Renegades. Later Erikhas would lead his renegades against the Minor Craftworld Alinstar and conquered it before dragging it back into the Eye of Terror. Since then it has become their base of operations, a frozen wasteland where only those such as the Frost Wraiths can survive. As leader of a renegade chapter Erikhas loyalty has remained a mystery. While he certainly doesn't serve the Imperium anymore he doesn't seem to have turned to Chaos either and will occasionally fight alongside either. Much of his actions after conquered Alinstar serve seemingly no greater purpose than increasing his collection of frozen trophies. Erikhas' first lesson Shortly after taking the Craftworld the Frost Wraiths appeared in the Segmentum Pacificus, fighting alongside bewildered Astra Militarum forces against a fierce Ork WAAAGH in order to add the Ork Warboss to Erikhas' collection. No sooner than he had captured the Ork than a Large force of Eldar from the Craftworld Biel-Tan arrived to take vengeance for Alinstar. Not one to back away from a challenge, Erikhas led the counter-attack against the Eldar forces himself. At first it seemed as if the Eldar had underestimated the strength of their opponent as all who challenged him fell before his mighty relic blade. As he used his blade to gut a Eldar Falcon that had been crippled by Lascannon fire from the Renegade Astartes, a webway gate opened near the Winter Smith reveling the Eldar's trump card; an Avatar of Khaine. With reckless abandon Erikhas challenged the shard of the War God head on, finding to his dismay it was far stronger and faster than he initially believed. Within a few blows the Avatar was able to land a backhand strike with it's fist, shattering the Astartes' breastplate and sending him flying back. Before it could land a deadly blow however the remaining Frost Wraiths came to their leaders aid, driving back the Eldar host long enough to retreat back into the warp with their injured master. A few days later the Craftworld Biel-Tan found an old Astartes Thunderhawk floating near their Craftworld bearing the hearldy of the Frost Wraiths. To their astonishment they found within it hundreds of thousands of Eldar Soulstones from the lost Craftworld Alinstar as well as Erikhas' own Relic blade with the inscription, "To the Victor go the spoils" Etched all over the Thunderhawk. Whether this was done out of respect to a worthy opponent, or mockery the Eldar still have not decided. Breaking the Knight The next legendary battle of Erikhas occurred in 003.872.M38 when the Frost Wraiths engaged in battle against a Imperial force bolstered by Knights from House Griffith. In the midst of the combat the Frost Wraiths somehow summoned a blizzard to obscure the battlefield in order to counter the knights more long range attacks. In the fierce blizzard a Knight Gallant became separated from his fellows and was set upon by Erikhas and his guard. Like his battle with the Avatar of Khaine, Erikhas challenged the Knight to single combat and charged with little regard to his own safety, and like with the Avatar was sent flying away with a single hit. Believing the Astartes incapacitated the Knight turned to deal with his guard, only for Erikhas to emerge from the blizzard flying on wings of ice (the first time he had manifested this power). Moving faster than the knight could react the massive Astartes crashed into the front of the knight with enough force to make it unbalance on the icy ground and fall to the ground. Not giving his foe a second to recover Erikhas set upon the front of the disabled knight with his bare hands, ripping away armor and machinery until he could remove the Knight's pilot, taking him as a trophy. When the blizzard cleared not only had the surviving Frost Wraiths escaped, but the remains of the Knight had vanished as well. Back on Alinstar, Erikhas made good use of the scrap recoverable from the Knight, using it forge a throne for himself as well as forging a new Relic blade for himself. Dual with the Primarch With such a victory as that, rumors spread among the traitor Legions of the strength of the leader of the Frost Wraiths. Several times offers of alliance and reward were sent, none were taken. Eventually the Frost Wraiths erratic attacks put them in opposition with a Warband of the World Eaters. To their dismay they found that the Warband had somehow won the favor of their Primarch and Angron himself had come to lead them in their slaughter. While the clever traps and strong fortifications set up in anticipation proved troublesome, they were overwhelmed by the sheer fury of the Red Angel. Eventually, to stop the slaughter of his brethren, Erikhas challenged Angron to single combat which the Primarch accepted. While Erikhas may have been a powerful Astartes, he was by no means as mighty as his gene father Rogal Dorn, and only Angron's tiredness and injuries from the earlier battle prevented Erikhas from being overwhelmed. However, as the combat drew on the balance began to tip as the Daemon Primarch's wounds healed and Erikhas began to tire. As Erikhas' defeat loomed imminent, his battle-brothers once again interceded on his behalf in order to save him. With the combined fire power of nearly 50 Frost Wraiths focused on him, even the Primarch Angron was forced to withdraw. When the World Eaters gathered to retaliate, it is said that Angron told them to cease, as Erikhas won a degree of respect. While the Frost Wraiths had interfered, it had been against Erikhas' will, and for that Angron chose to reward him by sparing him once. As they parted however Angron promised the upstart that such unusual kindness would not be found again save he forsook Heims and followed Khorne. Trophy's Erikhas' collection of Trophies is a vast labyrinth of Ice aboard Alinstar where his mightiest foes are encased in warp-infused ice. Over the Millennia his collection has grown to include; * The last Eldar Farseer of Alinstar * Several Ork Warbosses * Astartes from several chapters including a Grey Knight * A Tyranid Hive Tyrant * A Imperial Knight pilot * A multitude of Daemons, including a Greater Daemon of Khorn * Examples of most kinds of Necrons Trazyn the Infinite Perhaps the strangest relationship in the Galaxy to be imagined, Erikhas found a kindred spirit (so to speak) in the Necron Overlord Trazyn ever since the Necron attempted to attack Alinstar to claim his own trophies. In the Years since what can only be described as a friendly rivalry has formed between the 2 collectors, each racing to claim certain trophies before the other, and even trading tropies, for example Erikhas traded frozen lesser Daemons of the 4 Chaos Gods in return for examples of various Necrons Appearance and Personality Erikhas is a Giant even by Space Marine standards. When he was part of the Abyss Gazers he was noted for being large for a Space Marine and after his rebellion he has only continued to grow. Now he stands roughly 2.8 m tall standing head and shoulders taller than his fellow Astartes. As with all the other Frost Wraiths he lacks any obvious physical mutation that is commonly seen in Chaos touched Astartes and were it not for his supernatural height and icy frost covering his armor, he wouldn't look too out of place in an Imperial army. How he grew to be so large is a mystery, especially since he seems to be growing larger still after his defeat at the hands of Angron. Makrus Once-King the Frost Wraiths insane chaplain claims Erikhas to be the Avatar of their mysterious patron Heims. Personality-wise he is strange for an Astartes. When a neophyte is in the process of becoming a full Astartes they undergo intense Psychotherapy to rid themselves of many emotions that lesser men feel, yet somehow it does not seem to have fully worked on Erikhas. His mood is readily changeable and his alliances will change seemingly at random. One day he'll be helping a Chaos Warband drive off a Imperial Army and later he'll bring his Frost Wraiths to help that same Imperial Army defeat a Ork WAAAGH. His one defining trait however is his obsession with collecting 'Trophies' of worthy enemies, or anybody who catches his fancy, by freezing them in warp-infused ice. At his core he still hates Chaos while also hating what the Imperium has become and thus chooses to play both sides. Above all he still strangely respects and even reveres his gene father Rogal Dorn. He claims that all his training and growth are merely to gain enough power to complete what Dorn Failed to do and destroy the Daemon Primarch Perturabo and that he will go through nearly any length to achieve that. Abilities As a Astartes of Abyss Gazer gene-seed with the Affliction he has the ability to freeze opponents with a strange form of Cryogenic breath. This ability has only gotten more powerful ever since he started following the mysterious Heims. Though the Abyss Gazers gene-seed should have prevented him from developing any psychic powers he seems to have defied the odds and gained some anyways, most notably a strange form of psychic discipline called Cryomancy which allows him to create and manipulate warp-ice as well as his seeming immortality. There are three main powers he uses; # Breath of Heims- In battle a constant flow of wind and snow is emitted by his armor, providing him with cover from enemy long range attacks and lowering the ambient temperature. # Immortality of Ice- Preformed only on those he considers worthy of the effort, Erikhas somehow encases his foe in warp-infused ice. The victims of this are doomed to become parts of his collection for eternity. The only successful method for melting the ice thus far discovered is fire summoned by Living Saints much to his ire. # Frost Flight- His most rarely used ability, Erikhas summons skeletal wings of ice that grant him flight similar to a jump pack. Given the limited use of this ability, some Inquisitors believe that he has more difficulty manifesting this ability than others. Physically he is perhaps unmatched by anyone other than a Primarch, having been strong enough to fight a Greater Daemon of Khorne and come out the victor. His greatest achievement however was his now legendary battle with the Daemon Primarch Angron. After Angron had attacked his Battle-Brothers when the two came into conflict during opposing raids on the same world, Erikhas challenged him to single combat. While at first it looked even between the already battle-weary Angron (he had already been fighting for several hours and had taken numerous injuries) and the fresh Erikhas it slowly began to tip back into the Primarchs favor as his injuries from earlier began to heal. When his Astartes tried to intervene on his behalf, Erikhas ordered them to stay out as it was his fight, impressing Khorne with his bravery and honor enough that he stopped Angron from killing him. Since that fight Erikhas has trained and prepared for his next battle with a Primarch, intending to win by his own strength and skill. However, even someone as powerful as him is not invincible, nor is he foolish enough to think of himself as such. Whenever he goes to battle he is accompanied by his retinue, 10 of the best the Frost Wraiths have to offer, each clad in Artificer Armor. While Erikhas may prefer to battle opponents one on one, his retinue will not hesitate to step in should things not go in his favor. Wargear Mantle of Winter-'' A oversized set of Artificer Armor Erikhas had made. It's armor is said to integrate warp-ice that refreezes whenever broken. ''Ice Forge- ''A Masterwork Thunderhammer that creates an explosion of ice shards every time it strikes. ''Champion slayer-'' A 2-handed Relic Blade so large only a Terminator could wield it. Roughly shaped from the Adamantium armor of the Knight destroyed by Erikhas, the blade is 2.2 meters long (7.5 feet) and is nearly half a meter wide (1.6 feet). Typically wielded one handed with his storm bolter in the other hand, even he is unable to gracefully wield such a blade one-handed leaving him to resort to wide slashes that cleave all in their path. When wielded with two hands however it becomes a devastating weapon, able to break other power weapons through it's sheer weight. ''Masterwork Storm Bolter Iron Halo Quotes By About Add your own Category:Characters